The Business of Research

Architectural research is being redefined in practice. Whereas once the value of a piece of research was solely measured by the number of citations it received by fellow academics, shifting funding models and new societal concerns are forcing academia to question its structure and this mode of evaluation. At the same time a wave of practitioners and new types of institutions, such as RMIT in Melbourne and the London School of Architecture (LSA), have been recasting architectural education and theoretical speculation within practice, turning the traditional architectural studio into a learning environment that adopts and adapts academic models, and starts to use architectural research as a potential source of business intelligence, as a means for self-generating future commissions and speculative opportunities that sometimes even shift the terrain of practice.

This new focus on research in practice is indicative of a profession redefining its relevance and scope. This is destabilising the traditional roles of academia and practice by questioning their deep-rooted separation and demanding a new definition of the term ‘research’ with one that is relevant to both parties. This issue features contributions from architectural thinkers, researchers and a number of practitioners who are recasting academic speculation within their own studios. This not only redefines what is meant by research and what forms it takes, but also how it creates value for them, their clients, for the discipline as a whole and for the ultimate users of their designs. This helps us to understand how research might be deemed valuable beyond a purely academic context. Moreover, it raises significant questions in terms of opportunities and risks that arise when research is recast into the less regimented realm of practice.

Contributors: Daniel Davis, Lionel Devlieger, David Green, Harriet Harris, Rory Hyde, Lara Kinneir, James Soane, Ziona Strelitz, Leon van Schaik, John Zhang

Featured architects: Assemble, DSDHA, Foster + Partners, Iredale Pedersen Hook, OMA, Public Practice and Superflux.

Introduction: Embracing Research in the Business of Architecture

Prologue: A Shared Practice

Resituated Research: Achieving Meaningful Impact on the Fault Line Between Academia and Practice

Public Planning Reimagined: Building Capacity and Agency

Practise What You Preach: The University as a Common Ground Between Research and its Application

Spanning Continuums: Addressing the Separation of Research and Practice in Architecture

Out of Practice: Theoretical Speculations In and Out of the Business of Architecture

Mitigation of Shock: Post-Occupancy Anthropology

How Is It For You?: Building Design as Experienced by Users and Makers

Vertically Integrated Research: An Unusual Business Model

Pushing the Envelope: Innovation and Collaboration at Bloomberg’s New European Headquarters

For the Public Good: Rebuilding the Architectural Profession’s Social Contract

Research Infiltration: The Germination of Preoccupations

Deconstructing Research: A Reverse-Engineering Methodology and Practice

Building Practices: The Infrastructure of Materials Research

Translating Culture: Framing Indigenous Knowledge Through Architecture

Collective Impressions of Smithson Plaza: Weaving History with the Present

Towards a New Normal: The Blurred Landscape of Architectural Research in China

Counterpoint: Less Grey, More Black and White: Architecture Needs a Consistent Platform in Research

Contributors

What is Architectural Design?

Deborah Saunt is a Director of DSDHA in London and an editorial board member of AD since 2009. She isanADAPT-r Fellow at RMIT and an Inter-Practice Year Director and Design Think Tank Leader at the London School of Architecture. She is also Visiting Professor at University of Navarra in Spain and a Commissioner for the Independent Transport Commission.

Tom Greenall is Associate Director at DSDHA.

Roberta Marcaccio is Head of Research and Communication at DSDHA.

Architectural research is being redefined in practice. Whereas once the value of a piece of research was solely measured by the number of citations it received by fellow academics, shifting funding models and new societal concerns are forcing academia to question its structure and this mode of evaluation. At the same time a wave of practitioners and new types of institutions, such as RMIT in Melbourne and the London School of Architecture (LSA), have been recasting architectural education and theoretical speculation within practice, turning the traditional architectural studio into a learning environment that adopts and adapts academic models, and starts to use architectural research as a potential source of business intelligence, as a means for self-generating future commissions and speculative opportunities that sometimes even shift the terrain of practice.

This new focus on research in practice is indicative of a profession redefining its relevance and scope. This is destabilising the traditional roles of academia and practice by questioning their deep-rooted separation and demanding a new definition of the term ‘research’ – one that is relevant to both parties. The Business of Research features contributions from architectural thinkers, researchers and a number of practitioners who are recasting academic speculation within their own studios. Their input not only redefines what is meant by research and what forms it takes, but also how it creates value for them, their clients, for the discipline as a whole and for the ultimate users of their designs. This helps us to understand how research might be deemed valuable beyond a purely academic context. Moreover, it raises significant questions in terms of opportunities and risks that arise when research is recast into the less regimented realm of practice.

Contributors: Anne Boddington, Alison Creba and Lionel Devlieger, Daniel Davis, David Green, Harriet Harriss, Rory Hyde, Lara Kinneir, James Soane, Ziona Strelitz, Leon van Schaik and John Zhang

Featured architects: Assemble, DSDHA, Foster + Partners, iredale pedersen hook, OMA/AMO, Public Practice and Superflux.